German teens survive driving off cliff, dad’s $114,000 Tesla doesn’t

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Tesla builds some of the safest vehicles on the roads. Unfortunately, a vehicle that helps passengers survive a crash sometimes has to sacrifice itself in order to protect them. One German Model S owner learned that the hard way this week. Though he’s no doubt thankful that his teenage child and four passengers survived a spectacular accident, he’s probably also wishing his six-figure sedan didn’t look like like it had been used for a chase scene in a buddy cop film.

According to a police report, the teenage driver lost control of the car going into a curve, hit an embankment, and launched it into a freshly-plowed farmer’s field. It rolled once along the way and eventually came to a stop around 80 feet from where it veered off the road.

All five passengers were able to exit the vehicle despite having sustained some pretty serious injuries. Some reports are praising the Model S and Tesla’s skateboard design as a result, but there’s more to it than the fact that the teens were riding in an “inherently safe car.” Thankfully, there was nothing in the landing area that could have ruptured the Tesla’s hundred-kilo lithium battery or any obstructions (like trees) that it could have run into, because things could have been much, much worse.